CHAPTER I.

THIS
CHAPTER TREATS OF THE BEAUTY AND DIGNITY OF OUR SOULS AND MAKES A COMPARISON TO
EXPLAIN THIS. THE ADVANTAGE OF KNOWING AND UNDERSTANDING THIS AND THE FAVOURS
GOD GRANTS TO US IS SHOWN, AND HOW PRAYER IS THE GATE OF THE SPIRITUAL CASTLE.

1. Plan of this book. 2. The Interior
Castle. 3. Our curable self ignorance. 4. God dwells in the centre of the soul.
5. Why all souls do not receive certain favours. 6. Reasons for speaking of
these favours. 7. The entrance of the Castle. 8. Entering into oneself. 9.
Prayer. 10. Those who dwell in the first mansion. 11. Entering. 12.
Difficulties of the subject.

1.
WHILE I was begging our Lord to-day to speak for me, since I knew not what to
say nor how to commence this work which obedience has laid upon me, an idea
occurred to me which I will explain, and which will serve as a foundation for
that I am about to write.

2.
I thought of the soul as resembling a castle,3131Way of Perfection, ch. xxviii, 9. formed of a single diamond or a very
transparent crystal,3232In
her Life St. Teresa likened God to a
diamond (ch. xl, 14); and elsewhere (ch. xi, 10) the soul to a garden wherein
our Lord takes His delight. and containing many rooms, just as in
39heaven
there are many mansions.3333St.
John xiv. 2: ‘In domo Patris mei mansiones multæ sunt.’ St. John of the Cross
uses the same comparison: ‘If the soul shall overcome the devil in the first
combat, it shall then pass on to the second; and if it shall be victorious
there also, it shall then pass on to the third; and then through the seven
mansions, the seven degrees of love, until the Bridegroom shall bring it to the
“cellar of wine” of perfect charity.’ (Ascent of Mount Carmel, bk. ii. ch. xi. 7.) If we reflect, sisters, we shall see that the
soul of the just man is but a paradise, in which, God tells us, He takes His
delight.3434Prov.
viii. 31: ‘Deliciæ meæ esse cum filiis hominum.’ What, do you imagine, must that dwelling be
in which a King so mighty, so wise, and so pure, containing in Himself all
good, can delight to rest? Nothing can be compared to the great beauty and
capabilities of a soul; however keen our intellects may be, they are as unable
to comprehend them as to comprehend God, for, as He has told us, He created us
in His own image and likeness.3535Gen.
i. 26: ‘Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram.’

3.
As this is so, we need not tire ourselves by trying to realize all the beauty
of this castle, although, being His creature, there is all the difference
between the soul and God that there is between the creature and the Creator;
the fact that it is made in God’s image teaches us how great are its dignity
and loveliness. It is no small misfortune and disgrace that, through our own
fault, we neither understand our nature nor our origin. Would it not be gross
ignorance, my daughters, if, when a man was questioned about his name, or
country, or parents, he could not answer? Stupid as this would be, it is
unspeakably more foolish to care to learn 40nothing
of our nature except that we possess bodies, and only to realize vaguely that
we have souls, because people say so and it is a doctrine of faith. Rarely do
we reflect upon what gifts our souls may possess, Who dwells within them, or
how extremely precious they are. Therefore we do little to preserve their
beauty; all our care is concentrated on our bodies, which are but the coarse
setting of the diamond, or the outer walls of the castle.3636Way of Perf. ch. xxviii.

4.
Let us imagine, as I said, that there are many rooms in this castle, of which
some are above, some below, others at the side; in the centre, in the very
midst of them all, is the principal chamber in which God and the soul hold
their most secret intercourse.3737St.
John of the Cross on the words of his stanza: ‘In the inner cellar of my
Beloved have I drunk.’ ‘Here the soul speaks of that sovereign grace of God in
taking it into the house of His love, which is the union or transformation of
love in God . . . The cellar is the highest degree of love to which the soul
can attain in this life, and is therefore said to be the inner. It follows from
this that there are other cellars not so interior; that is, the degrees of love
by which souls reach to this, the last. These cellars are seven in number, and
the soul has entered them all when it has in perfection the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost, so far as it is possible for it. . . . Many souls reach and enter
the first cellar, each according to the perfection of its love, but the last
and inmost cellar is entered by few in this world, because therein is wrought
the perfect union with God, the union of the spiritual marriage.’ A Spiritual Canticle, stanza xxvi. 1-3.
Concept. ch. vi. (Minor Works of St.
Teresa.) Think over this comparison very carefully;
God grant it may enlighten you about the different kinds of graces He is pleased
to bestow upon the soul. No one can know all about them, much less a person so
ignorant as I am. The knowledge that such things are possible will console you
greatly should our Lord ever grant you
41any
of these favours; people themselves deprived of them can then at least praise
Him for His great goodness in bestowing them on others. The thought of heaven
and the happiness of the saints does us no harm, but cheers and urges us to win
this joy for ourselves, nor will it injure us to know that during this exile
God can communicate Himself to us loathsome worms; it will rather make us love
Him for such immense goodness and infinite mercy.

5.
I feel sure that vexation at thinking that during our life on earth God can
bestow these graces on the souls of others shows a want of humility and charity
for one’s neighbour, for why should we not feel glad at a brother’s receiving
divine favours which do not deprive us of our own share? Should we not rather
rejoice at His Majesty’s thus manifesting His greatness wherever He chooses?3838St. Matt.
xx. 15: ‘Alit non licet mihi quod volo, facere? an oculus tuus nequam est, quia
ego bonus sum?’ Sometimes our Lord acts thus solely for the
sake of showing His power, as He declared when the Apostles questioned whether
the blind man whom He cured had been suffering for his own or his parents’
sins.3939St.
John ix. 2: ‘Quis peccavit, hic, aut parentes ejus, ut cæcus nasceretur?’ God does not bestow these favours on certain
souls because they are more holy than others who do not receive them, but to
manifest His greatness, as in the case of St. Paul and St. Mary Magdalen, and
that we may glorify Him in His creatures.

6.
People may say such things appear impossible and it is best not to scandalize
the weak in faith by 42speaking
about them. But it is better that the latter should disbelieve us, than that we
should desist from enlightening souls which receive these graces, that they may
rejoice and may endeavour to love God better for His favours, seeing He is so
mighty and so great. There is no danger here of shocking those for whom I write
by treating of such matters, for they know and believe that God gives even
greater proofs of His love. I am certain that if any one of you doubts the
truth of this, God will never allow her to learn it by experience, for He
desires that no limits should be set to His work: therefore, never discredit
them because you are not thus led yourselves.

7.
Now let us return to our beautiful and charming castle and discover how to enter
it. This appears incongruous: if this castle is the soul, clearly no one can
have to enter it, for it is the person himself: one might as well tell some one
to go into a room he is already in! There are, however, very different ways of
being in this castle; many souls live in the courtyard of the building where
the sentinels stand, neither caring to enter farther, nor to know who dwells in
that most delightful place, what is in it and what rooms it contains.

8.
Certain books on prayer that you have read advise the soul to enter into
itself,4040Imitation, bk. II. ch. 1: ‘Regnum Dei intra vos
est.’ Luke. xvii. 21. The Imitation is one of
the books which according to St. Teresa’s Constitutions,
(§ 7) every prioress was bound to provide for her convent. and this is what I mean. I was recently told
by a great theologian that souls without prayer are like bodies, palsied and
lame, having hands and feet they cannot use. 43 Just so,
there are souls so infirm and accustomed to think of nothing but earthly
matters, that there seems no cure for them. It appears impossible for them to
retire into their own hearts; accustomed as they are to be with the reptiles
and other creatures which live outside the castle, they have come at last to
imitate their habits. Though these souls are by their nature so richly endowed,
capable of communion even with God Himself, yet their case seems hopeless.
Unless they endeavour to understand and remedy their most miserable plight,
their minds will become, as it were, bereft of movement, just as Lot’s wife
became a pillar of salt for looking backwards in disobedience to God’s command.4141Gen. xix.
26: ‘Respiciensque uxor ejus post se, versa est in statuam salis.’

9.
As far as I can understand, the gate by which to enter this castle is prayer
and meditation. I do not allude more to mental than to vocal prayer, for if it
is prayer at all, the mind must take part in it. If a person neither considers
to Whom he is addressing himself, what he asks, nor what he is who ventures to
speak to God, although his lips may utter many words, I do not call it prayer.4242Way of Perf. ch. xxi. 6; xxix. 4. Sometimes, indeed, one may pray devoutly
without making all these considerations through having practised them at other
times. The custom of speaking to God Almighty as freely as with a slave—caring
nothing whether the words are suitable or not, but simply saying the first
thing that comes to mind from being learnt by rote by frequent
repetition—cannot be called prayer: God grant that 44no
Christian may address Him in this manner. I trust His Majesty will prevent any
of you, sisters, from doing so. Our habit in this Order of conversing about
spiritual matters is a good preservative against such evil ways.

10.
Let us speak no more of these crippled souls, who are in a most miserable and
dangerous state, unless our Lord bid them rise, as He did the palsied man who
had waited more than thirty years at the pool of Bethsaida.4343St. John v. 5: ‘Erat autem
quidam homo ibi triginta et octo annos habens in infirmitate sua.’ We will now think of the others who at last
enter the precincts of the castle; they are still very worldly, yet have some
desire to do right, and at times, though rarely, commend themselves to God’s
care. They think about their souls every now and then; although very busy, they
pray a few times a month, with minds generally filled with a thousand other
matters, for where their treasure is, there is their heart also.4444St. Matt.
vi. 21: ‘Ubi enim est thesaurus tuus ibi est et cor tuum. Still, occasionally they cast aside these
cares; it is a great boon for them to realize to some extent the state of their
souls, and to see that they will never reach the gate by the road they are
following.

11.
At length they enter the first rooms in the basement of the castle, accompanied
by numerous reptiles4545Many
an ancient castle was provided with a bear-garden where rare animals were kept
for the amusement of the inhabitants. This may have supplied the material for
St. Teresa’s comparison. which disturb their peace, and prevent their
seeing the beauty of the building; still, it is a great gain that these persons
should have found their way in at all.

4512.
You may think, my daughters, that all this does not concern you, because, by
God’s grace, you are farther advanced; still, you must be patient with me, for
I can explain myself on some spiritual matters concerning prayer in no other
way. May our Lord enable me to speak to the point; the subject is most
difficult to understand without personal experience of such graces. Any one who
has received them will know how impossible it is to avoid touching on subjects
which, by the mercy of God, will never apply to us.

32In
her Life St. Teresa likened God to a
diamond (ch. xl, 14); and elsewhere (ch. xi, 10) the soul to a garden wherein
our Lord takes His delight.

33St.
John xiv. 2: ‘In domo Patris mei mansiones multæ sunt.’ St. John of the Cross
uses the same comparison: ‘If the soul shall overcome the devil in the first
combat, it shall then pass on to the second; and if it shall be victorious
there also, it shall then pass on to the third; and then through the seven
mansions, the seven degrees of love, until the Bridegroom shall bring it to the
“cellar of wine” of perfect charity.’ (Ascent of Mount Carmel, bk. ii. ch. xi. 7.)

37St.
John of the Cross on the words of his stanza: ‘In the inner cellar of my
Beloved have I drunk.’ ‘Here the soul speaks of that sovereign grace of God in
taking it into the house of His love, which is the union or transformation of
love in God . . . The cellar is the highest degree of love to which the soul
can attain in this life, and is therefore said to be the inner. It follows from
this that there are other cellars not so interior; that is, the degrees of love
by which souls reach to this, the last. These cellars are seven in number, and
the soul has entered them all when it has in perfection the seven gifts of the
Holy Ghost, so far as it is possible for it. . . . Many souls reach and enter
the first cellar, each according to the perfection of its love, but the last
and inmost cellar is entered by few in this world, because therein is wrought
the perfect union with God, the union of the spiritual marriage.’ A Spiritual Canticle, stanza xxvi. 1-3.
Concept. ch. vi. (Minor Works of St.
Teresa.)

40Imitation, bk. II. ch. 1: ‘Regnum Dei intra vos
est.’ Luke. xvii. 21. The Imitation is one of
the books which according to St. Teresa’s Constitutions,
(§ 7) every prioress was bound to provide for her convent.